Experience of the Feroz heel cup
Since we released the FEROZ heel cup, dozens of children with podiatric pathologies have already benefited from it, and are now able to use and enjoy the advantages of our minimalist footwear.
We initiated the project two years ago with the idea that children who have to wear orthopedic insoles should also be able to wear Zapato Feroz shoes. Until that point insoles were incompatible with minimalist footwear.
The first laboratory tests showed that by using heel cups in more rigid shoes, there was more of a tendency towards valgus than with Feroz shoes, which gave us all the more reason to design a device for children with foot pathologies so that they could wear shoes without giving up the orthopedic treatment they need.
When considering which orthopedic device to buy, families also take into account the cost. By using this removable device for footwear that respects your child's feet, we have expanded the range of shoes your child can wear, since the heel cup can be used with any of our shoes. It is also available in two sizes: S (28-30) and M (31-33). All of these advantages come with the purchase of a single device at a very affordable price.
In the last two years, the process has been intense and laborious, both in terms of design and production until we came up with a solution: we made the required rear height of the shoe compatible with the use of corrective insoles, which raise the heel inside the shoe and achieved the right consistency for the feet to receive the right impact against the ground. 
During the final phase of the project, our favourite podiatrists, Roberto Pascual and Neus Moya gave us lots of support and encouragement while we added the finishing touches in order to perfect the prototypes.
We were very excited to patent our heel cup and started selling it in December 2021. Since then we have kept in contact with many of the pioneering families who use our device to find out first-hand how they are doing and how we can improve.
Nora is so happy with them because they are comfortable and warm. Now when she puts on her other trainers she complains that they squeeze her toes.
The heel cup was like a Christmas gift; it arrived just in time for my daughter to wear her Feroz shoes for the first time.
"Daniela doesn't get as tired as she used to and has stopped complaining about her calves and her feet. She says she can run without her foot slipping back in the shoe but above all, she's so happy with them that at school she showed them to all her classmates and teachers. They are her super shoes for running about."
👩🔬 A very important part of our design process is based on the feedback we receive from several podiatrists whose opinion we continue to value very highly following their check-ups with the children who use our heel cup.
💁🏻 Our heel cup is the culmination of a project made out of love for kids' feet and led by the objective that has guided us from the beginning: to offer you the best footwear that respect your child's feet; healthy, comfortable, resistant, beautiful, inclusive and affordable.
